Hi all, I'm a student looking to apply to PwC's grad course as a Management Consultant. My academics are just shy of their requirements and I'm looking to bolster my application with a professional qualification.
I'm a complete novice, with no great interest in tax or accounting but I can apply myself to any course if it's relevant and useful to a career in business or consulting. Ideally I want something I could complete within the next 2 years on a part-time distance learning basis. But I have no idea where to start!
There's a section on PwC's application for professional qualifications which lists the following:
ACCA
ATT
CFA
CIPFA
ICAEW
ICAI
ICAS
I'm leaning towards ATT. Can anyone kindly advise me if this is a good place to start?
Do you realise how long these qualifications actually take!
taking ACCA as an example, if you did all the exams without any exemptions then you are looking at around five years! Some have done it in as little as three years but requires pretty much full time application (virtually no social life). Most however do it in five to seven years (this is my eigth but I'm already a consultant so a bit busy to study as much as I should!).
If you did the qualification from books without doing any courses then Expect it to set you back arounf £2500 for the 14 papers. If you use a tuition provider then at least double that.
Depending on your degree you may be able to get exemptions from some of the papers (Pretty sure that you could skip F1, F2 and F3 but if you do you may have problems passing the next 11!).
ICAEW, ICAS, ICAI are all the same thing (being the England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland versions of the Chartered Accountant qualification).
ATT is primarily a Tax Technician qualification. It's a good... No, great, qualification and an excellent grounding in tax but to my mind it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of that list which are at the next level up.
It's more usual for PWC to put you through these courses themselves than for you to have them before you start. However, when PWC are paying they expect you to pass every paper at first sitting or you are out of the company!
Assuming ACCA, take note, these are really difficult papers. the first nine are the equivalent of a BSc. The last five are at masters level.
If as you state you have no interest in the subject matter then you may be wasting your money as this will very much take over your life.
Last thing. Why PWC? Have you tried KPMG or E&Y? I've worked with all of them and nothing against the others but if I had to be employed by one directly myself it would definitely be KPMG.
Also, if you want the benefits of management consultancy but without the accounting side of things what about IBM or Accenture?
Good luck in your career whichever route that you take,
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Hi, I only know about the ATT qualification as I am taking it.
I knew a small bit about tax before I started the course, and am interested in it (if you're not I wouldn't bother with the qualification) It is hard work in the amount you have to learn but can be done in a year of you work hard (3 nights a week and one day at the weekend is suggested).
I am taking this course as I work as a bookkeeper and wanted a better understanding of tax returns. I take the course with Tolley Tax Training - there are 4 exam papers that you need to take, 1 of which is optional - you choose the subject. I take the course through distance learning which is the cheapest but hardest way and the manuals for each paper are just under £250, you also need to buy 2 books 'essential law for the taxation techncian' and 'essential accounting for the taxation technician' and also a copy of the yellow and orange tax handbooks which are very expensive but if you are a student with Tolley's they cost you £65.
I could be wrong but I don't think that the ATT course would be relevant for a job in Management Consulting. More if you want to be a tax advisor or for completing tax returns. I wouldn't start the course unless it's really what you want to do as there is so much study involved and I imagine it would be very difficult if you were not interested, there are so many rules to remember.
I hope this helps with the ATT part of your question
Shamus, I suspected most of those certs were serious undertakings, but 5 years wasn't a figure I had in my head! Thank you for clarifying. In short my main reason for choosing PwC is their position at #1 of the Times 100 Graduate employers for several years running, though E&Y and KPMG are both up there, along with IBM and Accenture. I'll be pursuing applications with all of them. Can you expand on your recommendation of KPMG?
Rachel, thanks for the post, some very useful information here; cost of textbooks was something I'd overlooked. My feeling now is that this cost, along with my general lack of interest for the subject would outweigh the benefits of ATT towards a consulting career. All I really want is something to show them I'm serious, something that will differentiate me enough to get me in front of an assessor. Then it's up to me :)
